Sweet Dream

Soothing your sweet tooth on a Disney Cruise Line ship can be as easy as battling brain freeze by indulging in unlimited soft serve ice cream. If they’d let you stick your face underneath the tap, I’d be tempted to open wide and do just that.

Yet if you want to take it to the next saccharine level, step inside Vanellope's Sweets and Treats, a fresh out-of-the-box dessert shop, part of the Disney Dream’s recent enhancements. Replacing the ship’s arcade —hey, kids have games at their fingertips on their mobile devices these days— Vanellope’s scoops up high-octane theming based on the virtual world of Sugar Rush, the racing game found in “Wreck-It Ralph.” Handmade gelato and ice cream, baked goods and other novelty desserts, and mounds of candy sweeten the deal.

Yeah, the confections boast high scores. But Vanellope’s almost comes off as a mini attraction in itself, sprinkled with the type of sensory overload you’d expect from Disney Imagineers, the creatives responsible for theming and design on the theme parks and cruise ships belonging to the House of Mouse.

Take a bite of my five favorite aspects of Vanellope's Sweets and Treats.

The Cream of the Crop

They roll out freshly baked waffle cones, and you can fill them with imaginative flavors of ice cream and gelato. Yet the full-on Vanellope’s experience comes in the form of one of its artisan sundaes. My personal pick rolls to life as Vanellope’s Go-Kart Sundae. Choose three scoops of ice cream and/or gelato. The staff crowns it with whipped cream, a cherry and as many as five toppings. It all comes housed in Vanellope’s go kart, complete with rolling wheels. After you finish it off with the last lick, they’ll wash it out and dry it, and you can take the tiny ride home.

The Leader Board

Wanna see what sundaes rise to the top at Vanellope’s? As a nod to the video game-flick it came from, Vanellope’s has a leader board perched above the counter listing the top-selling sundaes of the day. Check and see how Ralph’s Family Challenge, a communal affair starring eight scoops of ice cream in a take-home trophy cup, stacks up against the competition.

Sweet Treats

Not in the mood for ice cream? Peruse the daily offerings, from cookies emblazoned with edible illustrations of Wreck-It Ralph’s mug to brownies on a stick. Cupcakes, candied apples, eclairs and a host of other toothsome treats tempt guests from behind the glass.

Sour Bill

Gas pump-style gumball dispensers help decorate the floor of Vanellope’s. One of them, however, serves as home to one of “Wreck-It Ralph’s” co-stars. Keep an eye out for Sour Bill, King Candy’s dour henchman with the Steven Wright monotone. He pops up periodically inside one of the dispensers dishing out bits of new dialogue specially recorded by “Wreck-It Ralph” directorRich Moore, who also voiced Bill in the flick.

Photo Ops

Try snapping a shot of Sour Bill during one of his unpredictable appearances. If you can’t pull it off, other serious photo ops abound in Vanellope’s. A life-size version of thestore’s namesake hangs upside down from a candy cane. King Candy can be found, too, his tongue in a frozen dangle. And you can plop down in the driver’s seat in a replica of Vanellope’s kart. Sweet.

Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats can be found on board the Disney Dream. For Disney Cruise Line information, go here.